Confusion Reigns at the Mall
by thaliagrace04
Summary: Percy shows up unexpectedly at Annabeth's door, looking like he was only hanging on to a thread of his sanity. He takes Annabeth on a suprise date, one that makes no sense. Contest entry in PowerofWords12's contest. Round 1. Rated T for possible language.


**Hey, you guys. This is my contest entry for PowerofWords12's contest, round one. This took me a while to write, and I've been really sick, but I got it done just in time for the deadline of Febuary 1st, 2010. Cutting it a little close, if I do say so myself. Thsi may be OOC . . . well, actually, I can garauntee that there'll be OOCness, but I did my best. I want to know how you guys thought of it, so review, please.**

**The requires words are under lined througout the story. The list of words includes:**

**troublesome, muffins, immortal, headphones, sneeze, damp, autumn, chocolate, lithe, ice cream (yum), and marshmallow(y). If I missed one, don't freak out. I just skimmed it over for 'em a second ago.**

**I hope you like it! Wish me luck in the contest :):)**

My cell phone signaled another text from none other than my troublesome boyfriend Percy Jackson.

**Its rainin ouside. –PJ**

Why does he have to state the obvious so directly? I mean, I know he's an idiot and all, but couldn't he at least be more subtle with his idiot remarks? I sighed.

**No shit Percy. –AC**

When he didn't reply for at least five minutes, I got curious. What could he possibly be doing now? He'd been texting me nonstop all morning. Then again, he usually didn't get up before noon.

All of a sudden, there was a knock at my door. I sucked in a big breath before getting up from my desk to answer it.

"C'mon! We've got stuff to do!" said my boyfriend excitedly. I groaned, letting my head fall back as he tugged on my arm. I hated when he just showed up without telling me what surprise date he was kidnapping me for.

"Why?" I whined. He just stared at me. He had a really concentrated look on his face. He must've been thinking too hard again. Sheesh. Then he plugged his nose and squinted his eyes.

"Percy! What is up with you and your weird faces?!" I asked, annoyed.

He looked at me again without speaking before saying, "I had to sneeze," like it was the most regular thing you could say to your girlfriend on a chilly, damp, autumn day after unexpectedly showing up at her doorstep with some surprise up your sleeve.

"Then why didn't you sneeze?"

"I didn't want to."

I dropped the conversation and let him drag me out of my apartment and into his car. I had no idea where we were going, but it was usually worth it. Most of the time. I was thinking over our past 'surprise field trips' when I felt his eyes on my face. "Watch the road Percy! Not all of us are indestructible," I said, trying to stay alive.

"Wow—I never knew that our sophomore year of college would get to you that much. Stressed?" he asked.

"Yes. Rebuilding Olympus, term papers, general homework, and babysitting an irresponsible boyfriend have kept me pretty busy."

Percy thought over my words, not even caring that I'd implied that I babysit him, or that I just called him irresponsible. Well, he not really—part of the time.

"Why do people make those commercials for giant cupcake makers? Wouldn't a giant cupcake just be a cake?" he asked the air.

What? "What?"

"And muffins are just icing-less cupcakes. They're not even good. Unless they're blueberry or chocolate chip."

I gave him the weirdest look I could muster up. "What is it with you and cupcakes today? You're making me hungry."

He got an excited look on his face before asking, "For cupcakes?"

"No!" He looked disappointed with my answer; probably the tone that went with it, too.

I asked, exasperated, "Where exactly are you taking me, Percy?"

He shrugged. "The mall, I guess."

That confused me. Since when did Percy ever want to go to the mall? Since when did he forget that I _hated _the mall? I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to see any signs of him using drugs or something, but that just wasn't a very 'Percy' thing to do. I mean, yeah, sure; he was irresponsible and slow, but he wasn't so stupid as to resort to that kind of thing. _Why am I thinking about drugs in the first place? _I thought.

*****

When we arrived at the mall parking lot, we went in through the Barnes and Noble entrance, much to my interest.

"Can't we just stay here?" I asked the guy tugging on my hand with a longing in my voice.

"Um, no."

"Why not?"

"Because we can't."

"Why, Percy?!

Because we are not going to sit around reading books. It's a waste of time," he said in a matter-of-fact tone. I scoffed at him in disbelief.

We went to the part of the mall with the indoor bungee-jumping thingy, where you could see kids having the time of their life feeling as if they're defying the laws of gravity. There was a girl there that was jumping and doing flips as lithe as a cat could stalk its prey. I got a really bad vibe from her--she narrowed her eyes at me and gave me chills.

I snapped back to reality when Percy tugged on my arm, noticing that I had stopped and rooted my heels in the ground.

"Annabeth, c'mon! Bungee-jumping is fun. I was here the other day, and it was so cool! I mean--"

I gave him a strange look. "What were you doing," I said, "at the mall? Who are you and what have to done to Percy Jackson? One minute you show up at my door with this big secret and then you start talking about all this crap with muffins and cupcakes; next will be ice cream, and then--" I stopped when I realized what I'd said.

"Ice cream?"

Oh no.

"Can we, Annabeth? We can totally skip the bungee-jumping and go get ice cream, and then we could go and watch a movie. That'd be even better!"

I stared at him.

What had he _eaten_ this morning?

*****

When we had gotten our ice cream and gone back to his place to watch a movie, he started suggesting these creepy, scary movies. Extremely disturbing. I went into the kitchen to make us some popcorn while Percy was supposed to be picking a supposedly non-scary movie for us to watch (I can't believe he actually left me alone in the kitchen. Not after what happened last time, after all).

I didn't burn the house down this time, though.

I come back with the bowl of popcorn to find Percy laying on the couch, arm over his eyes, with music blasting from his iPod headphones. I felt like I was babysitting a rebellious child. I pulled the headphone out and leaned over him.

"Well? What movie are we watching, Seaweed Brain?" I asked sarcastically. After he just stared at me, I narrowed my eyes at him, which he took the opportunity to pull me down on top of him so he could kiss me. Needless to say, I didn't protest much.

After I pulled away, I said , "Percy, what was that all about?" My voice sounded funny.

"I just _really _wanted to kiss you."

"Good thing it isn't some other girl, then. I might've had to kill you," I replied sarcastically.

We just stared at each other, me laying on top of him. It was silent except for the faint sound of commercials and ads coming from the TV.

"Remember when you gave up the chance to become immortal for me?" I asked softly.

"Yeah," Percy replied, equally as soft.

"Mmm," was the only sound I made.

"You're not getting all marshmallowy on me, now are you, Chase?" he asked jokingly as his hands tangled in my hair.

"No. Just reminiscing, Jackson," I whispered. I breathing was mingled, and I could feel my eyes closing as our faces neared each other. And, finally, our lips met.

I didn't even remember to ask what movie he had picked out. But Percy did get his cupcakes when his mom walked in.

We all get our happy ending somehow, right?


End file.
